The invention relates to a hose line having at least one hose connector which has a connection piece with a connection nipple, onto which connection nipple a hose end of a flexible hose is pushed, and which has a crimp sleeve which clamps the hose end between itself and the connection nipple in an immovable manner in the longitudinal direction of the nipple, wherein the hose connector has at least two tool engagement surfaces that are arranged on the crimp sleeve on opposite sides of the hose connector.
The present invention also deals with a method for producing a hose line having a sleeve-like connection piece, one sleeve end of which is configured as a connection nipple onto which a hose end of a flexible hose is pushed before the hose end pushed onto the nipple is secured by crimping a crimp sleeve.
A hose line of the generic type having at least one hose connector is already previously known from EP 0 267 709 A1, said hose connector having a connection piece with a connection nipple, onto which connection nipple a hose end of a flexible hose is pushed. A crimp sleeve engages around the connection nipple and the hose end pushed onto the latter, said crimp sleeve being crimpable from a non-deformed state into a deformed state with a smaller clear sleeve cross section. In this case, the crimp sleeve clamps the hose end between itself and the connection nipple in an immovable manner in the longitudinal direction of the nipple. Above that subregion of the crimp sleeve that clasps the hose end, two tool engagement surfaces are integrally formed thereon, said tool engagement surfaces being provided on opposite sides of the crimp sleeve. While small protuberances arise between the pressing jaws of the crimping tool during the crimping of the crimp sleeve, said protuberances being formed by material displacement during crimping and being completely unsuitable as tool engagement surfaces for a turning tool, the hexagon having the tool engagement surfaces is already formed into the non-deformed crimp sleeve and is neither intended nor suitable for compression molding during crimping.
A hose line having a hose connector which has a connection piece with a connection nipple is already known from DE 10 2007 026 394 A1. The hose end of a flexible hose line is pushed onto the connection nipple and secured with a crimp sleeve that engages around the connection nipple and the hose end pushed onto the latter. In order to achieve a connection that is able to be subjected to torsional stress between the connection nipple and the hose end pushed onto the latter, the crimp sleeve is pressed together with the connection nipple in a non-round manner such that there is a rotationally fixed form-fitting connection between the crimp sleeve and the connection nipple. Since a connection that is able to be subjected to torsional stress between the connection nipple and the hose end pushed onto the latter is desired, additional tool engagement surfaces are not provided on the crimp sleeve.
A hose line having a hose connector is previously described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,430 A, said hose connector having a connection piece with a connection nipple, onto which connection nipple a hose end of a flexible hose is likewise pushed. The hose connector has a crimp sleeve which clamps the hose end between itself and the connection nipple in an immovable manner in the longitudinal direction of the nipple. The hose connector has a tool engagement surface which is provided above the connection nipple on the hose connector at a distance from the crimp sleeve and the hose end enclosed thereby. Insofar as the crimp sleeve obtains a cross-sectionally octagonal flat contour in subregions during crimping, these octagonal subregions are neither intended nor suitable as tool engagement surfaces.
A hose line having a connection piece is known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,570,477 A, in which the hose end pushed onto the connection piece is secured by means of a crimp sleeve which is prefabricated as a stamped part. The crimp sleeve has an inwardly bent peripheral region at its sleeve end remote from the hose, said peripheral region having a hexagonal external contour that serves as a tool engagement surface. In this case, the internal and inwardly indented peripheral zone serves at the same time as an abutment surface against which the hose end bears. The production of this crimp sleeve prefabricated with the hexagonal end peripheral region entails a great deal of effort.
A hose line having a hose coupling is known from U.S. Pat. No. 1,954,989 A, said hose coupling being intended to connect a hexagonally prefabricated pipe. This hose line, with its hexagonally prefabricated pipe, is producible only with a great deal of effort and is limited to specific applications.
A hose line having at least one hose connector which has a connection piece with a connection nipple, is already known from DE 20 2006 015 598 U1. The hose end of a flexible hose is pushed onto the connection nipple. The previously known hose connector has a crimp sleeve which clamps the hose end between itself and the connection nipple in an immovable manner in the longitudinal direction of the nipple, wherein the hose connector has at least two tool engagement surfaces that are arranged on opposite sides of the hose connector. Provided in that subregion of the connection piece that protrudes beyond the connection nipple is a groove in which the crimp sleeve engages with an inwardly thickened wall portion. Wrench flats for the engagement of a tool are provided on the outer circumference of the connection piece, wherein the crimp sleeve has in its thickened wall portion a polygon which corresponds to the shape of the wrench flats provided on the connection piece and the shape of which is matched to these wrench flats. Since the crimp sleeve of the previously known hose connector thus has to mold itself to the shape of the polygon provided on the connection piece, the production of the previously known hose connector and the connection piece thereof with the polygon provided thereon is comparatively complicated.
Such hose lines are used for example to connect the outlet fitting provided on a wash basin to the angle valve of a water supply line. Since such wash basins are frequently also fitted into a kitchen unit and the outlet valve usually has to be mounted in the immediate vicinity of the wash basin there, the mounting of the outlet valve and the associated hose lines can be very complicated and time-consuming under the confined spatial conditions that prevail under the sink.
Also already known is a hose line which has at one hose end a hose connector which has a sleeve-like connection piece, the hose-side end of which is configured as a connection nipple. A hose end of a flexible hose is pushed onto the connection nipple, which is contoured on its outer circumference. The hose connector also has a crimp sleeve, which clamps the mentioned hose end between itself and the connection nipple in an immovable manner in the longitudinal direction of the nipple and secures it on the hose nipple. The connection piece is configured as a screw connection and has an annular shoulder behind which a union nut engages. This union nut has an internal thread which is able to be screwed onto an external thread provided on the angle valve. In this case, the outer circumference of the union nut is configured as a hexagon, the six edge surfaces of which serve as wrench engagement surfaces that are assigned to one another in pairs. In order to be able to screw the union nut with its internal thread firmly and tightly onto the external thread on the angle valve without the connection piece being able to co-rotate in the process, at least two wrench engagement surfaces to which a backup wrench can be attached, said wrench engagement surfaces being arranged on opposite sides and being assigned to one another in pairs, are also provided in that subregion of the connection piece that is arranged between the crimp sleeve for the one part and the union nut for the other part.
In order to be able to attach the backup wrench there, this subregion of the connection piece has to be configured in a relatively long manner. However, it is disadvantageous that a comparatively long subregion at the same time also requires a comparatively long installation length, which is not always available under confined spatial conditions. Furthermore, a comparatively large installation length can result in a correspondingly large minimum radius of curvature of the hose line. And finally, the wrench engagement surfaces that are provided for the backup wrench are provided in a subregion of the connection piece that is spaced apart from the hose, said subregion being accessible by an open-end wrench only with difficulty under confined spatial conditions.